by Dale Cadeau
Angel listened to Grant and opened his cell and called Lance.
* * * *
Lance came on the phone sounding out of breath. “Angel, did you find her? I’ve been running around the club looking but no one saw her and there is no trace that she even made it here today.”
“Lance, take a breath. I need to ask you something that happened at the trial. So calm down and listen. This morning Cyn was sitting on her patio with me talking about a garden and seeds as she stared into her backyard. I didn’t think anything of it at the time. But now Grant has dug out that she interrupted the cult’s trial, with outbursts about her garden and seeds. You were with her at the time. Can you tell us anything? I know it’s a long shot, but we just watched the camera feed from the highway and she took off from her normal route to the office taking a ramp heading west. It’s our only clue right now.”
“What the hell are you talking about gardens and seeds at a time like this? We have to find her. If she headed out on the westbound highway, she could be heading anywhere. I’m getting in my car and seeing if I can catch up with her.” The desperation was telling in Lance’s voice.
“Wait a minute, Lance. Think. She could get off any ramp before you make it to the highway. I know it’s a long shot, but we have to know if her talking about her garden and seeds this morning and the fact that she brought it out at the trial means anything. It could help us determine her state of mind.” Angel’s impatience was starting to show. He needed Lance to settle down and think.
“OK….OK, you’re right.” Lance sat down. Catching his breath, he continued. “You say she was talking about a garden and some seeds this morning? Come to think of it, when I first arrived on the scene down in LA, they had her in a cell all alone. Every time anyone would mention Ward’s name, she would start to talk about this garden of hers and the seeds that she had planted. After I bailed her out of jail and got us situated at a hotel, I called in the best shrink in the business. He got her to talk about the cult and living there, but we never did find out why she thought her garden and the seeds she planted were so important. After a few months the trial was over and the shrink told me she could function OK, but that it would take time for her to get completely back to normal. That’s all I know. God, I hope her mind is not going back to that time in her life. What the hell would be causing it after all this time?”
Angel thought for a moment and remembered the strange phone calls she had received. “Lance, remember the call she got the other day in the office? She acted strange with you and took off from the club. Could those calls be triggering something in her? I think she received one late last night. I didn’t question her at the time as it was so late and she got back into bed and went to sleep. Did she seem to act the same way, when she first left the cult?”
“Now you mention it, she did walk around in a dazed state then and a lot of things set her off. It was the same way the other day. I don’t know why I didn’t see it sooner.” Lance berated himself. Maybe he did know in the back of his mind but didn’t want to acknowledge it.
“Well, we at least know that something is triggering her. Why don’t you head over here and we can go over everything with the guys?”
“Be there in a sec.” Lance dropped the call and Angel closed his cell.
“I don’t know if you caught any of that? But Lance confirmed that she did talk about her garden and seeds a lot at first. She has been getting calls. In fact she got a call in the middle of the night last night. If it was a trigger, she is acting the same as she did that day at the club, taking off without thought. I think it’s time we picked up that Howard and had a talk with him.”
“I’d like to help, but I have my hands full right now with Laura. I don’t know who is after her or who even would want to harm her. I think if you guys can handle this, I’m going to disappear with her for a while. I know Lance is my friend and I am asking a lot of all of you.” Clay got up from his chair as he spoke, looking directly at Angel.
Angel knew Clay was torn between protecting his woman and helping his friends. “Don’t worry about it, Clay, you do your thing. Cyn is my responsibility now. Lance is your friend, but Cyn is my woman and I will find her if it’s the last thing I do. Just keep in touch if you go under. And remember if you need anything we’ll try to help.”
Clay walked over to Angel and clasped him on the shoulder. “I know you will. It goes both ways. Keep me informed and if I am needed I will come. And don’t forget James, for all his gruff, is just upstairs and I know he will help also.” Clay walked to the door and saluted the guys then turned and left.
Angel watched Clay leave then turned back to Grant and Brad. “Grant, I would really like for you to see if you can find her further out on that highway. I know it’s like finding a needle in a haystack but indulge me and see if you can find anything. I’m going to see if I can round up this Howard.”
Brad stood from his chair. “I’ll go after Howard. You have to stay here. Lance is coming, don’t forget.”
Angel looked at Brad. “I can’t ask you to do that. You could get arrested for grabbing this Howard. We really don’t have anything on him yet. Not enough for the cops to look the other way if you get caught.”
Brad look at Angel with a smirk on his face. “Give me credit. No one is going to see me snatch this guy. Remember, I was more than a sniper in the army. This is a piece of cake for me.”
“OK, I know you were one of the best on a takedown. I really should be the one going, but—” Angel broke off. He didn’t know what to say.
“But nothing, you stay here and meet with Lance. He might be able to give us some lead we need to be able to find out where Cyn is headed. It’s more important for you to find that out than to go out and grab some scumbag off the street.” Brad headed to the door, his hand itching to grab the men that had eluded them at the club.
Angel stopped him before he made it through the door with the question, “Where Chase? He didn’t follow us in here.”
Brad turned with a grin on his face. “Last time I saw him he had his cell out talking to his lawyer and asking about a safe house. I guess with James piping in about Sam, he thought he should take it seriously. He probably thinks he’s safe, but my money’s on Sam. She can’t be more than one step behind him. He better watch his ass.” Brad left, going down the hall, whistling to himself.
Angel turned and grinned at Grant. “Sam must have taken a shine to Chase. She usually doesn’t come after deserters herself. She usually sends her second-in-command. Hope she’s gentle with him when she finally tracks him down.” Angel’s face lost the grin as his thoughts returned to Cyn and wondered where she was and if she was safe. He watched as Grant turned back to his computer and started watching the highway feed along the west lanes.
Chapter Eighteen
Angel left Grant watching the monitor and walked back to the conference room. Lance would be here soon. He knew Grant would tell him as soon as he found any sign of her. Sitting at the long table, Angel allowed himself to rest his head in his hands. He couldn’t get this close to his soul mate and lose her so quickly. He couldn’t bear the thought of her being out there alone, maybe in danger, maybe not in her right mind. It must have been some powerful mind fuck that the cult did on her if they could come back years later and with only a few words bring her back to the state she was in then. He went over everything in his mind that Lance had told him about the cult and all that Grant had learnt. The pieces just didn’t seem to fit together for him. Maybe he would just have to take up BDSM like James after he found her and tie her to his side in knots. Angel’s chest hurt. He felt useless. Hopefully Lance would be able to help.
Hearing Grant burst into the room with Lance just behind him, Angel held his head up. He couldn’t fall apart now. Why had his senses failed him when it came to Cyn?
Grant hurried over to the table and laid a paper in front of Angel. “Look at this. As I was watching on one of the monitors of the highway feeds, I thought I would d
ig into this Ward guy some more. He might be dead, but he might hold a clue. And I found his will. Here it is. It leaves everything to this Howard. I would have thought that the Feds had taken over the property that the commune was on, but they only took the mansion and personal items this Ward had accumulated. The property was in the Church’s name and someone has been paying the taxes on it for the last five years. I did an aerial view of it and it looks almost untouched from when the cult lived there. It might be something.”
Lance leaned over the table beside Grant and looked at the will and the picture of the aerial view of the commune property. “I can still make out the hut that Cyn lived in. Do you think maybe she’s heading back there?”
Angel stood up and grabbed the papers off the table. “It makes sense. Ward dies, Howard comes into his own, and now he is after something that the Feds missed. I don’t know why he needs Cyn, but she must be tied into it someway.” Angel hurried toward the door, clutching the papers in one hand.
“Where are you going?” Lance and Grant both enquired.
“To visit a bear in his den. We need the jet,” Angel spoke back as he made his way swiftly to the elevator at the end of the hall.
Lance turned to Grant with a puzzled look. “What the hell does he mean? What bear?”
“He’s going to see James. James, who had his honeymoon interrupted and doesn’t want to be disturbed. He needs the OK to take the jet out of state. He could take it out on his own, but with James being back, we follow a line of command. That’s how we keep track of everyone. I don’t envy him right now. He might get his head bitten off,” Grant explained to Lance.
* * * *
Angel put his index finger on the button in the elevator leading to the penthouse. It wouldn’t move until it verified his identity. Finally it beeped, the door slid shut, and the elevator started rising. Angel hoped that he wasn’t interrupting James at a bad time. He knew this time for James was special and probably any time was bad. But his lady’s life was too important to allow James the luxury.
The doors finally opened on the top floor. Angel walked to the door directly across from the elevator, took a deep breath, and pushed the doorbell. Then punched it again in his impatience. Hearing swearing coming from the other side, he knew James would soon be opening the door and prepared himself for the blast he knew was coming.
James threw the door open, his face a mask of fury. “What the hell. Didn’t you get my message the first time?” James raised his fist to lash out at Angel. Angel deflected the hit and grabbed James by the waist and hurled them both inside the door on the floor. Angel landed on top of James holding his fist tight to the floor.
“Well, boys, didn’t your mothers teach you to play nice?” Angel looked up and there was Avery standing over them, wide-eyed and looking amused.
“You bastard, Get off me.” James roared at Angel as he started to buck him off.
Angel knew he only had a minute before James would have him in a headlock as James had learnt to fight dirty from his dad the cop.
“Wait, James, it couldn’t be helped.” Angel made the mistake of loosening his grip on James’s hand and found himself tossed up and onto his back, almost taking Avery out where she stood beside them. James, now on his feet, turned and apologized to Avery for almost making her fall. The moment that James’s attention was on Avery, Angel also got to his feet. His back hurt like a son of a bitch being tossed on the marble floor of the entranceway.
James’s attention turned back his way, but before he could take a step in Angel’s direction, Avery grabbed at his arm and stopped him. “James, stop for a moment. Let’s at least hear what he has to say. If you and I agree that it isn’t worth listening to, then you can beat him to a pulp for interrupting us.”
James put an arm around Avery and pulled her to his side, brushing his hair back from his face with an impatient hand. He asked, “Angel, why did you think it was OK to come up here? I didn’t mince words down in the office about not wanting to be disturbed.”
“I need the jet.”
“Is that all? You didn’t have to come up here to ask.” James was letting go of Avery to go after Angel again.
Avery tightened her arms around James’s waist and held him beside her as she asked Angel. “Is this about the cult thing going on?”
James looked down at her with incredible blue eyes. “What do you know about the job the guys are involved in? And how did you learn that it has to do with a cult?”
Avery turned her pretty green eyes up at James “While you guys were yelling in the conference room, I had a nice chat with Grace at reception. She told me about this woman Cyn and Angel’s infatuation with her and her involvement with some cult years ago.”
Angel and James couldn’t believe that Avery had gotten the scoop from Grace. “How would she know what is going on? We always close the door to our meeting.”
“Well, she wouldn’t be very good at her job, if she didn’t know what was going on. And Brad is a little sweet on her, so that’s probably where she hears some of it. Or, maybe she just listens to all the yelling going on from the room. You guys aren’t the quietest of guys when you all get together,” Avery teased James.
“She had no right to tell you even if she knew. We are a security company and I can’t have her telling people about the jobs we’re working on. I’ll have to have a talk with her.
“Back down, James, I got it out of her by pulling rank like you do. I wanted to know what was going on and reminded her that I was now married to the boss and we didn’t keep secrets between us.” Avery gave James an innocent look.
“That doesn’t extend to the jobs the firm does and you know it,” James answered back, trying to look stern and failing.
“Yes, I do, but Grace didn’t. So I learned about the cult, Angel’s woman, Cyn, and also about some woman named Sam that is coming after Chase. We spent a nice time chatting over tea.”
“I should spank your ass red for pulling that stunt.” James just pulled her close and kissed the top of her head.
“James, watch what you say. I don’t want Angel to hear how you sweet talk me.” Avery turned a little red at James’s words.
Holding Avery with one arm around her shoulder, James looked over at Angel. “OK, I got that you want the jet. Where do you need to go?”
“I need to go to California. Cyn took off on the westbound highway and that’s the only place that makes sense that she would head to. She’s been acting strange for the last few days after receiving phone calls. We think from Howard, he used to be the second-in-command of the cult she was in years ago. And from what Grant dug up”—he held out the papers to James—“This is our best bet. I want to go down and see if I can head her off.”
“But you don’t know if that’s where she heading? Maybe you should wait a few days. She might just be off shopping or something?” James butted into Angel’s answer.
Angel gritted his teeth. “I’m going whether it is with our jet or on a commercial flight. If this was Avery, acting strange and taking off to god knows where would you wait a couple of days?” Angel turned and stomped to the door, frustration etched on his face.
“No, you’re right. If it was Avery, I would have already been gone with the jet, to hell with protocol. Thanks for following procedure and not going off half-cocked.” James squeezed Avery tighter as if he couldn’t bear thinking of Avery in danger and feeling for Angel in his desperation to find Cyn. “With Clay gone, I will have to keep track of everyone. But you can’t go alone. Who is going with you?”
“Everyone’s busy. I’m going by myself. Grant is still monitoring the club in case it’s not only Howard after the women. Brad is looking into a new job that just came down the pipeline. Clay has Laura to worry about and you aren’t finished with your honeymoon. So I’m on my own. I’ll be leaving in the next hour or so.” Angel had stopped at the door when James had started to talk. Grabbing the door handle, he turned to leave.
“Good luck. I don’t
know this Cyn, but if she means that much to you, she is a part of our group and family. Take as much time as you need and do whatever you have to do.” James watched Angel close the door and leave.
Chapter Nineteen
Angel went back down to Grant’s office where he had left Lance with him.
“Well, what did the bear have to say? You’re a brave man to seek him in his den with his woman.” Grant couldn’t help asking.
“Well to say he didn’t like being disturbed is putting it mildly. Thank god for Avery calming him down. But I got the OK and will be leaving as soon as I gather some stuff together.” Angel was getting antsy and wanted to get going.
“I’m going with you,” Lance added in.
“No way. You have enough problems at the club and also, I can’t risk taking you with me. I can’t look after you and concentrate on finding Cyn at the same time.”
“To hell with the club. I don’t want it, if something happens to Cyn.”
Angel looked at Lance. He could tell that Lance would not rest until they knew where Cyn was.
“OK, but be at the airport in a couple of hours. I’m leaving whether you’re there or not.”
Lance hurried out the door as Angel turned to Grant and asked him if he had spotted her again on the highway.
“No, but the direction she’s going will take her to California eventually. She also might stop in a city along the way and take a plane down. I think you’ll have to try and get there before her so you can stake out the commune.”
“My thoughts exactly. Well I’m just going to go to my office then check out with Grace. Go home, pack a bag, and I’m off.” Angel was already moving toward the door as he spoke to Grant.